Can Obama Close GITMO via Executive Order?

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba  A detainee walks in the afternoon in a detainee camp at Task Force Guantanamo, (JTF-GTMO), on August 6, 2007. JTF-Guantanamo conducts safe and humane care and custody of detained enemy combatants. The JTF conducts interrogation operations to collect strategic intelligence in support of the Global War on Terror and supports law enforcement and war crimes investigations. JTF-Guantanamo is committed to the safety and security of American service members and civilians working inside its detention facilities. (JTF-GTMO photo by Navy Mass Communication Specialist Second Class Michael Billings.) UNCLASSIFIED. Cleared for public release. For additional information contact JTF-GTMO PAO 011-5399-3651; DSN 660-3651

We have seen that Obama, like many others before him, has no problem usurping Congressional powers. If Congress is unwilling to pay ball with the President, he will simply speak law into existence.

Though Obama is definitely not the only president to have a propensity for executive orders, but none has used this tool as cavalierly as he. Anytime there is resistance in Congress; this is the wildcard to which Obama turns. We have seen this most recently with illegal immigration and Muslim migrants.

The White House accused congressional Republicans on Tuesday of refusing to “engage” with President Obama after lawmakers blasted the president’s plan to close the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention center, the latest in a string of rejections for the lame-duck president.

Hours after Republicans said they wouldn’t entertain Mr. Obama’s proposal to move dozens of suspected terrorists to prisons on the mainland U.S., the president’s spokesman again said the president wouldn’t rule out closing the military prison through executive action.

The first thing that we have to point out is the problems this systematic attempts to close Gitmo has caused. As I reported, there are leaders who were once in Gitmo now leading the fight against America and her allies.

And the reasoning behind the closure is one that has been touted since the ’08 campaign.

The Times continued

“For many years, it’s been clear that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay does not advance our national security,” Mr. Obama said at the White House with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Vice President Joseph R. Biden at his side. He said extremist groups such as the Islamic State used the prison as a “recruiting tool” to foment hatred against the West.

But, if we are honest, we know that Islamists are not targeting us because of Gitmo. Gitmo was not used to hold terrorists until after 9/11. And then there is the issue of accessibility. If we move the camp to mainland America, will it not be more accessible?

Will the Muslims around the world hate us for this camp just like they do for Gitmo? So, what is the difference?